BAY AREA DATELINES

Compiled from Examiner staff and wire reports

Published 4:00 am, Friday, September 19, 1997

AH: Plans for new Giants ballpark get final OK San Francisco The Giants won victories important to their present and future Thursday - defeating the Dodgers to gain a first-place tie in the pennant race and gaining the final government approval needed for Pacific Bell Park.

The Bay Conservation Development Commission voted 24-0 to approve the team's plans for its $265 million ballpark along the waterfront in China Basin. BCDC's backing for the 12 1/4-acre ballpark project follows similar approvals by The City and State Lands Commission.

The Giants, responding to requests from BCDC, added land to the public park south of China Basin Channel and widened its "port walk" arcade around the proposed ballpark.

Team officials hope to break ground by mid-November and plan to have Pacific Bell Park ready for the season opener in April 2000.

City-to-East Bay

carpools get a go San Francisco The City will launch a pilot program on Monday for casual carpoolers going home to the East Bay during the evening rush hour, officials with the Department of Parking and Traffic have announced.

Pick-up zones will be located on the east side of Beale Street between Howard and Folsom streets for carpoolers going to three East Bay corridors: Richmond / I-80; Concord / Highway 24; and Fremont / I-580 / I-880.

The City will restrict parking on the one-block stretch of Beale Street between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through Friday to accommodate the program.

Casual carpooling matches drivers with other commuters going to the same general area. Carpools with three or more passengers can get directly on the Bay Bridge via the Sterling Street on-ramp. Other drivers cannot.

Suspect in attempted

murder free on bail Martinez A multimillionaire executive indicted in the attempted sledgehammer murder of his wife has been released from jail on $200,000 bail.

Walter Woodbury was released over the objections of his wife, Sharon, who wrote Judge Garrett Grant that she is

"truly afraid for my life," according to court records released Thursday.

A grand jury indicted Woodbury on charges that he bludgeoned his wife with a sledgehammer on May 1. Police said the attack was stopped by the Woodbury's 19-year-old son, who told investigators he heard his mother's cries, according to court records.

8 campers booked

for illegal dwelling San Francisco Eight people were arrested Thursday on charges of trespassing and setting up illegal living quarters in a catacomb-like maze beneath the sidewalk of a vacant lot at Second and Mission streets, police said.

"It appears that there were upwards of 50 people living in approximately 20 hollowed-out areas under the sidewalk, but when police got there, there were only eight left," said police Capt. Dennis Martel.

The six men and two women were all booked at the Hall of Justice instead of simply given citations, because

"none have local ties to the community and most are from out of the area," according to Martel.&lt;